Documenting and Preserving
Time: 2025-09-16 14:30 - 16:30
Location: Large Hall A at Auditorium Maximum
Chairman: Andrea Casa Nova Maia
Events within this Session
Documentary Past: An Aural Process of Curating Voices as Collective Individualities in the Works of Alexievich
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
the Venn diagram between literature and history, the ideal differentiation was the hardcore, unemotional facts. A realistic data relieved of any tincture of artistic nuances. Oral history challenged this sequence with its prime focus on the subjective element long back and in 2015 the polyphonic accumulation of voices created a stir in the world of academia. She has categorized her works as documentary literature which has curated documentary past(s). In the era of political turmoil regarding borderlands and the question of freedom of expressions, her methods of curation reflect an ethos of pacifism and humanitarian terrain of inclusiveness. Slavic dimension of Soviet and Post-Soviet echo with the worldly world dynamism of war, gender, violence, trauma, nuclear horror and also with subtle individual cosmos around frivolous dressing sense of girl in adolescence, blazing instinct to join in force, to see a person etc. A confluence of different worlds is explored in multitude of voices which are curated by Alexievich as an auteur. This paper would try to align research around aural methods with special relation to memory, interview mechanism in documentary literature, subjective process of memorization and retelling facts out of past (after the lapse of time) in her works that stands on an intriguing crossroad of liberating the idea of democracy, combining a mélange: oral history, allo/alternative history, testimonial literature and documentary literature.
Speakers
Embodied Histories: Negotiating Pathways to Recording Child-Maternal Traditions Facing Extinction in Rural Nigerian Villages.
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
Embodied histories; negotiating pathways to recording child-maternal traditions facing extinction in rural Nigerian villages. The Oral History Association website affirms that “Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events.” This ancient tradition clearly predates writing and has contributed in several positive ways to current global realities and continues to shape discourses at the local, community and international level. In some cases however, oral history has contributed to the erosion of people’s identity either by not giving an accurate account, by not ensuring that the stories are well preserved such as through colorful processes like storytelling and local poetry, or oral historians specifically misrepresented traditions by adhering to the hegemony of western customs. Using life history interview forms of 10 respondents, this qualitative abstract is drawn from a larger scale study focusing on accurately recording oral histories of ancient traditional birth houses and birth attendants across the larger Nigeria landscape. Like Doala’s in the western world, these population, largely women continue to play a significant role in child-maternal health in communities even among urban populations. Semi-structured questions were asked to guide the conversation on how best to preserve cultural knowledge embedded in this practice even as community health landscapes rapidly continue to shift to formalize, westernized healthcare systems for children and mothers. The findings so far indicate a variety of ways and plethora of recommendations that if converted into interventions by policymakers could contribute positively to proper archiving and record keeping among these communities as they negotiate westernization and sometimes even changes brought about by climate change realities such as flooding of maternal and traditional birth houses in specific locations.
Speakers
From Intimate Conversations to Enduring Records: Empowering Communities to Preserve Their Stories Through Digital Archiving of Oral Histories
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
An innovative community-driven digital oral history project delves into the rich tapestry of Varosha, Cyprus. Former residents actively participate by contributing their personal narratives, archival materials, and in-depth oral histories through a designated online platform. This platform facilitates a collaborative environment, fostering open dialogue and memory-sharing amongst participants. By focusing on these contributions, the project illuminates the previously undocumented “everyday realities” of Varosha. By capturing the lived experiences of residents, the project sheds light on how they shaped the city’s social fabric and interacted with built spaces. Through their oral histories, former residents participate in constructing their own historical narrative, fostering a sense of empowerment and strengthening their connection to the city. Preserving these unique voices will undoubtedly enhance our understanding of Varosha’s past. Furthermore, this project has the potential to significantly enrich architectural theory by revealing the human stories embedded within the city’s structures, fostering a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between people, space, and place.
Speakers
Oral History and History Keeping: Learning from Grassroots Oral Historians in the South Bronx
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
Oral history is a specialized academic research methodology, taught in university classrooms around the world. It’s also something that is part of everyday life. As a field, oral history benefits from clear standards and best practices, but in delineating those boundaries we necessarily exclude some people and some practices. Historically, academic oral history has both excluded and appropriated the oral history practices, for example, of Indigenous people (Mahuika 2019). Taking historically exluded people and practices seriously will help keep our field lively andrelevant, while also reddressing these historical exclusions. The Mott Haven History Keepers program values and supports the work of people in our South Bronx community who care about local history, who actively listen to and tell stories about the past, who keep archives in their living rooms, and museums in their closet, but who are not included in the institutional infrastructure of oral history and public humanities. In this paper, I will share what we learned over two years of working together.